Oxford Needs Homes – it’s clear that our city is in the middle of a housing crisis. Over 3,300 households are on Oxford City Council’s waiting list for social housing, almost a third of homes are privately-rented with tenants facing high rents, and the average house price is over 12 times average earnings.
So what is Oxford Labour doing about it?
Labour is leading Oxford’s biggest council house-building programme since the 1970s.
✅ We have plans to build or acquire over 1,600 new affordable homes over the next 6 years (meaning either council homes or shared ownership homes).
✅ By setting up our own housing company OX Place, we can design and build homes in-house and reinvest any profit right back into our community and public services.
✅ OX Place is building over 2,000 new homes in Oxford over the next 10 years and over 1,100 of these homes will be new council homes.
✅ We are enforcing the highest share of social housing on bigger developments (10 homes or more) in the whole country.
We have some of the strongest protections for renters in the entire country.
✅ Oxford is the first city in Britain to require all private landlords to hold a licence to improve housing standards. Does your landlord have a licence? Click here to check.
✅ We are the only council in all of Oxfordshire to own and manage our own council homes, where rent is £600 a month on average (40% of what a private landlord would typically charge).
✅ With the new Renters’ Rights Act, renters have gained more rights:
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- The Government has banned Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions.
- No discrimination against renters with children or on benefits.
- No more rent bidding wars, extortionate upfront payments, or high rent increases.
- All renters have the right to ask for a pet and all requests must be considered fairly.
Under Labour, Oxford is one of the first cities to adopt a ‘Housing First’ approach to homelessness. We believe that no one should have to sleep rough or ‘prove’ that they are ready for an offer of long-term housing before receiving support.
✅ As well as providing free passes to our leisure centres for some of the families affected, the City Council helps to fund local advice centres, support services like St Mungo’s and The Porch, and community larders.
✅ Labour’s proposals for next year’s City Council budget include an extra £32 million to invest in properties used for temporary accommodation to end the nightmare of families having to be accommodated in hotels. This money will help us acquire 260 additional homes – currently, the City Council manages around 200 homes for temporary accommodation
✅ The Labour Government has also given Oxford a cash injection of £1 million extra to fight rough sleeping and homelessness this winter. This is much needed after 14 years of Conservative Government, during which homelessness and rough sleeping doubled.